“She had a broken back, broken neck, terrible abdominal injuries and ribs, but she’s making a remarkable recovery due to her spirit and the incredible National Health Service – the people that work there are fantastic.”

Brand, 42, said his mother, who has had cancer six times, had “only finished chemo a month before the crash”.

“She’s still having to go for regular check-ups, but she bounces back,” he added.

“The woman wants to live, she’s full of spirit.”

The comedian and actor said he can now deal with such a serious event differently from how he might have in the past when he was battling addiction.

My job is to be supportive, be present, be kind, be loving
Russell Brand

He said: “I’m lucky because I’ve got a programme of recovery and this means that when something serious happens, I have a little word with myself and I know that what I mustn’t do is act all selfish and self-centred.

“If something dramatic and awful happens in your life, you can start to overly identify with it, you can make it your life, as it were.

“But really, it didn’t happen to me – it happened to my mum – so my job is to be supportive, be present, be kind, be loving, recognise when you’re in hospital, everyone is there with their own problems, the people working there have got their own challenges.

“I think, in the past, I may have had a tendency to be very self-centred, like a lot of entertainers.”

Barbara Brand was travelling in the back of the comedian’s chauffeur-driven Audi A8 when it collided with a Vauxhall Astra near Brentwood, Essex, on April 26.